Ich bin Ich bin
by Verlorene Erinnerungen
Summary: I am.. I am... The more she tries to accept her perfection, the more she desires to be flawed. To be real. But the only way to truly be perfect, is to not waste away life in the pursuit of it... Life... I am.. I am... Daniella Story Please Review :D
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer: Don't own a bloody thing... Yeah, but I did write the story. so don't take that It's happened before and I don't like it. **_

_**I love Daniella. My favorite animated character ever. I love how much emotion she brings out as a character who is suppose to be nothingness. For this, she fasinates me, and I really sympathize with her. I do NOT believe she is 'emotionless'. Otherwise why would she become so determined to kill Fiona? So my goal is to try to describe what I feel was going on in the mind of our favorite psychotic maid. Hope you like it and please Review. :) I'll be happy to read your stories as well.**_

**_Also I'm not sure if I might end up changing a few things along the line, but I'll probably try to stick to the game's storyline as much as possible. _  
**

**This Empty Feeling, is Only Temporary**

**(An Introduction)**

_"Every shadow is nailed down to the feet of a mortal. Forced to accompany a mobile corpse for a master. It is the one thing that shall never abandon its duty to its master... even if it desired too."_

And so, there she stood. A distant doll, a cold clay figure of a fantasy made real. A statue that moved, yet was not alive nor dead. An empty shell perhaps some might say. Skin pulled over artificially assembled bones. Is this as true as it would appear to the eye? To say that one is emotionless, void in the stare. Still so beautiful, so unobtainable. One could argue though, that emotionless was but another word for lonely. And is lonely not an emotion? You'd be surprised how much one, who is supportively so lifeless, has so many thoughts. So many questions. So many that sometimes it would seem she really could feel something. That aching deep within her frame that she could not understand or define. Can you imagine what it is like to have the compulsion to cry out and your body is unable to react to the urge? Can you feel the distance between yourself and your soul? To feel, to feel anything at all. She wouldn't complain. Pain, hatred, hope. But she was told that she couldn't, so she believed it, but that doesn't mean she wouldn't try.

Man-made and godless. Who was to love the one that was named Daniella. Her name was all she owned, but in truth she didn't even have title to that. It could be changed on a whim if her Masters so wanted it to be so. All she had to herself was that insignificant tag, and her perfect body. She would be grateful, if she knew how. She might say thank you as well, but she was only allow to speak when spoken to. And as she stood alone in one of many deserted hallways of Belli Castle, Daniella felt so... desuetude. But sometimes, when she was all alone, she would concentrate so deeply and would be as still as a corpse itself, she would get this movement of sorts deep inside. Other times it would come on all of a sudden, a rush of sorts. Compared to perhaps the feeling of getting gooseflesh for no apparent reason. Often they would come and go too fast for her to enjoy them. All that would linger behind was a memory, a memory she couldn't even mourn for. Sometimes she wasn't sure if she merely imagined these 'rushes' or perhaps, somehow, her Masters were toying with her. Either way, she didn't have the mind, nor time, to care.

She had no instructions on what to do with herself. Usually when there was no specific duty to be done, she would simply clean the already spotless rooms. At least the ones she was allowed in. Her policy had become the mindset that there was always something covered in a new layer of filth and it was her job, her purpose, to find it and erase that grime from existence. But her mind was in a trance, trying to make sense of what she had accidently heard her two Masters talking about earlier when they had been eating what she had prepared for them. It must have been important, for one of her Masters didn't usually eat with the other, nor did he usually come to eat at all. At least not without striking out at her in some form. They had spoken in harsh whispers, insults. The food was thrown across the room, she cleaned it up as always once the dust had settled.

Was it about that girl? The one she had seen being carried into the castle by one of her Masters? She had observed from a window, as he disappeared with her in his arms under the castle, into the dungeon. Something had been boiling then, a low simmer within her. Was it curiosity, was it joy, was it fury? She couldn't tell. Without a second thought she'd turned her back to the window and strolled away in her oh so synchronized way.

Later she would receive orders by one of her Masters to go to her when she would 'escape' her prison and enter a whole new one. But that was later, this was now. So she stood motionless, drowning in the thick silence that wrapped her tight in an attempt to choke her. She was straining inside, though it did not show. Trying to feel the slightest twinge of anything, but there was nothing. What was merely a few moments of imperious time to her, had really been over four whole hours. Time meant nothing to her anyway, so it was no loss. Time was like an insect coming to suck you dry. It is so tiny and purposeless at first, paying no notice, but once it leaves its disgraceful mark it can be rather annoying as it flies by you out of your grasp. It only comes back to take away more and more of you. Bit by bit, never all at once. What fun would that be to dismember something in one shot? You can't watch it suffer that way.

Then she heard a faint noise that awoke her from the deep chambers inside herself. It was hard to place what is was, even with her inhumanly keen senses. She knew the castle better than she understood herself after all. The sound had come from the direction of the southern wing she thought, it wasn't far off. The next thing she knew, she was there, with no memory of the walk to the destination. But there was no time to try to ponder on it. She stared at the old wheelchair before her, barely seeing the man that was occupying it. She was told what she would do, and when. Then the wheelchair rolled off in the darkness, the man in toll. Once more, Daniella was reminded of her reason for being created. The only thing she 'lived' for, and that was to serve. So she made a point to be the very best at it, no matter how it would end for her. Just a maid, just a machine.

Now she stood alone yet again in a different place with no recollection of how she got there once again. This was a frequent occurrence. But soon she would be joined by something she had never laid her glass eyes on before. Woman, a real woman. Inside she was roaring with anticipation, but she knew not how to communicate that to her exterior. She stood absolutely still, and waited. It was more likely that the whole house would tumbled down around her in ruins before she'd be moved. Nothing, except an order from her Master would shake her now. To see this... woman... she wanted it.

Unfortunately, this girl was a little slow it would seem. A good half hour must have passed. Anyone else would have been frustrated and bored, but not Daniella. Instead she stared blankly at the door, every now and then her eyes would flicker to the clothes that she was instructed to lay out for the guest. She wandered if she'd actually put them there herself or not. She didn't remember doing it if she had.

She studied the shape of the woman through the attire, even before she was in them. These clothes were made special, this girl might have been expected. Whatever lie ahead for her, was unknown to Daniella. That was not her business, it was not her place to know, she didn't have the right.

The slowly ticking of the clock kept the maid company as she burnt a hole into the door with her pale, silver coated, eyes. She wondered if all real women were this rude to keep those who strived so hard to be punctual waiting. She tried to envision the knob turning and the girl coming in. Perhaps if she thought hard enough it would come true. She imagined what the girl might look like, but only came up with deformed mixes of herself and her Masters. She didn't have a wide range of faces in her human appearances mental photobook. She would most likely be a goddess of sorts. Like her, perfect in every way. That is what a woman had to be, to be here. It was law.

Below the surface, just behind the handmade heart that ticked in time with the clock, came a spark. Not quite a rush. It was so small, Daniella wouldn't have noticed it, if she would not have standing so still in her mind. It was certainly something. Perhaps it was worry. Maybe this girl would not come. She would be denied seeing the idol of all that is woman. Wouldn't be able to feel the feminine breath that she lacked. It was all she was aloud to feel. She was instructed not to touch her godly form under any circumstances unless something was extremely important. She had been going over in her mind what an extremely important circumstance might be and how she could possibly 'accidentally' cause one to occur. Maybe if she 'accidentally' became dusty, Daniella could comply to her duties and tided her up. No one likes a filthy woman. Surely though, the woman would not be dirty in anyway, she'd be much to pure to be coated in anything but the finest of cleaning-based products. Or so she imagined in her time of waiting. But after awhile her instincts to be a tall glass of nothingness grew too great and it was too hard to concentrate on the thought. She willingly let it die. But somehow the 'worry' resurfaced time and time again in the long waiting period. Maybe her other master... had other plans for her. This was not uncommon for the two to have different ways of dealing with things. In fact, them getting along would be just as likely as a real woman coming to the castle... But if THAT was to come true (although it had not yet, and very well might not ever), then perhaps there is a first time for everything. Or maybe she was worried for another, more darker reason.

Somewhere inside, admittedly, somewhere very deep and buried inside, Daniella wanted to be needed. The compliments from her one master on how well she cooked and cleaned seemed to be the most pleasing thing she could do for herself. Over time though this had started to grow a tad bit old to her and no tiny enjoyment pricks inside came very often anymore. But she still strived to try for just the most microscopic of them. Anymore she apparently would feel more of a reaction from letting the other master relieve his fury on her. It was not the same kind of feeling as the one master with compliments was. It was something that made her body want to convulse. Like there was something she was suppose to fulfill. Something walled up in her that was fighting to get out. An urge perhaps to do the same to the offender who'd hurt her. But this unidentified 'rage' as it was called, never lasted long enough for her to even think about acting on it.

Daniella's ears suddenly picked up a light, slow, and even paced thumping. It was like footsteps of someone with only socks on. But that's not what the sound was. No. She did not come to the realization that the girl was on the other side of the door by her feet padding the ground. Rather the timed beating of the woman's breathing heart. She was hesitating outside. The girl's mind was going over all the possible outcomes of entering (all negative) and comparing them to the opinion of remaining outside (also all horrible to think about). Then at last she shallowed all the fear down her skinny throat and pressed against the door. Finally... she came.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Crud... misspelled "destitute"while I was speed typing in the first chapter, I even know how to spell it! AND I TRIED SO HARD! I don't have spell checker... Anyways. Thanks to those who sent me kind and encouraging words in messages. Hope to get more readers soon. :D I write to spread my mental pictures on to other opened minds... although you might want to be careful on what you let in.**_

**First Contact with the Princess**

_The closer the dream, the stronger the temptation. And when it is forbidden, it heightens the desire_

The knob fluttered uncertainly then stopped. Daniella's eyes glued onto it and would not be ripped away. That door was a little hard to open for someone who was fragile. Then, again, the brass knob twirled, slowly. It twisted further and further. A click, and a small push. A boundary was broken at long last and behind it was surely something to behold. But then it revealed something Daniella had not expected. She was confused, she was frightened, she was no goddess at all, and she was imperfect, everything Daniella was not.... She was absolutely beautiful. Oh how she was beautiful. All her faults. She even managed to trip up a little on her uncoordinated feet. She didn't even see the cold figure staring longingly at her as she climbed up the small stairway. Although this 'longing' stare would appear to be the only gaze Daniella possessed the knowledge to form, an empty one. No detectable feeling at all. But it was there, just so buried not even Daniella knew about it. A 'rush' came then, Daniella was too distracted to identify it from the endless dictionary of human emotions. Then another rush came. So many at once. A build up of them, as her eyes trailed the blond headed young girl as she nervously stepped across the room. She was watching her feet intently, trying to keep her balance as she shook slightly.

Daniella wanted so strongly to reach out and touch her, but she couldn't. She could never really feel her the way she wanted, even if she had permission. In fact, she wasn't sure she could want anything at all. One thing was for sure, the object before her was a rare meat and not for her.

As if the feeling of being watched (something Daniella did not really define as a 'feeling', but more of a detection method), the girl began to stroke her cold arms for only a little comfort. Daniella could see little bits on her skin were raised all over her body. This girl's skin wasn't even perfect. It had a rough texture to it apparently. Perhaps it would be like the rough side of a sponge. In her mind she didn't find it very appealing for a woman to have. But her mind soon came to the attention of something more important to ponder. Daniella could feel the watching too. Something was surveying over her and the newcomer as well. Something, or rather, someone else, was also intrigued by the perfectly imperfect girl more so than she could try.

The girl though, as young and lovely as she might have been, felt anything but beautiful. She'd just crawled out of some sort of basement holding area where she'd seen some horrible things within the shadows. She had been caged like an abandoned animal. One thing she did know was positively correct, she was not alone here. To make things even more uncomfortable, she was completely naked, savor a silky cloth she held tightly around her thin body. The last memory she had was being in a car, with some people maybe. Her head was throbbing too much to remember. But it was cold outside. She was weary about going back into the place she had 'escaped'. You really couldn't escape Belli Castle though, somehow she might of sensed that right off. Either way, she had finally found a door that was unlocked, and swallowed her fears and entered the belly of the beast. Now that she was inside the giant manor she felt no less in danger and certainly no less free. A good word to use would be that she felt swallowed, swallowed right up. The place was a monster in itself, or a cave with no ending or beginning. Perhaps, She hoped in a naive sort of way, There is someone here who can help me.,She prayed that she'd find whomever that was, before whoever it was that had been in the basement found that she was missing from her cage.

The room she was in was not what she expected at all. It seemed like a collision between the old world style she'd pictured from the outside, and a sort of modern touch just thrown in. Lazily to say the least. She didn't like the feel of it. Then again, in her state, she didn't like how anything felt, so it was difficult to judge if it really had made a change on the uncomfortable scale. She wished for a moment, that she could just feel nothing. What a fool she was. Humans don't appreciate their senses. So quickly to mark things like thoughtless, blank, tired, and so forth, as 'emotionless'. For this, they are selfish. For this, they don't deserve these 'emotionless' emotions. What Daniella wouldn't give to trade for half of what Fiona was feeling at the moment. Instead, she could only marvel at it as it passed her by. The young woman was headed for the door, Daniella wasn't sure if she was supposed to stop her or not. Her instructions were always to never speak unless spoken to, or told otherwise. But she didn't have to wonder long.

She was spotted. It was almost as if the girl had felt a breath of cold, nonexistent breath of air brush her skin. Sensing an unknown presence in the room, the girl had frozen up like a statue. The two girls could relate in a way now. Daniella wondered if perhaps her feet had malfunctioned or some other manufactured error. Finally she did show signs of movement. She began to slowly turn her head and upon spotting what could have just as easily been a mannequin, she was immediately overcome by rather powerful emotion, known simply as shock. The girl spun around to face Daniella entirely. Fear rose again and her heart began to race faster. Daniella could hear it, it sounded like marvelous music.

Then Daniella smiled. Sometimes she'd smile out of the blue and not even know she was doing it until she was either scolded for it or whatnot. But it was no less a smile. Slightly misplaced as it was, it was still beautiful. Daniella was not suppose to know how to smile, but on the rare occasions she would catch herself doing it, she'd reach up to touch it, just to feel it physically, since she couldn't properly otherwise. But, like always, as soon as it came it was gone. Faded back to the standard that was Daniella.

As lovely as Daniella's smile was, the girl could not see it as anything more than a hungry grin of a warning sign. Proof that the woman was indeed mobile and could possibly be dangerous. And yes, there is a different between a smile and a grin. For a moment the two could only stare and observe the set of eyes looking back. Two entirely different souls meeting. Both alive, one living. But Daniella knew, despite the questions that were aching in her, despite the urge to try to express those questions, it did not matter. There was work to be done. She had a role to fill, and it was all she had.

Slowly, Daniella motioned her hand to the bed where 'she' had placed the clothes. The girl seemed to stumble a bit at the movement. Besides seeing the maid smile, she had exhibited no other actions until then.

"I've gathered some clothes for you." It was a sentence made of stone, but it had been the first words she'd spoken outright in weeks so one could argue she was rather out of practice in 'enthusiasm'. Nothing other then the broken record tracks of, "Yes, Master" and "No, Master" had been uttered form her pale lips in... who knows for sure how long.

The young woman's eyes traced Daniella's hand down to the clothes. Daniella was able to slightly enjoy the radiating sensation of a human's eyes traveling over her rubberlike skin. Her expression halted at the bed and locked on, only shortly. She was afraid to look away from the maid too long. It would be nice to wear, well, anything, but she was hesitant on approaching. Her eyes darted between the clothes and Daniella for a moment. Obviously this woman had known she was coming. Expecting her. Did she know that she had been imprisoned though? Was she good, was she bad? So many questions, but she'd be getting no answers anytime soon, for Daniella had lowered her arm and began to make her leave. She was permitted to say no more to the girl, it was best to leave before any temptations to speak welled up again. Although secretly she was trying very hard to have those temptations, to feel a 'rush' of any kind again. But there was nothing now, and there soon wasn't even the will to try.

At last they broke eye contact, the young girl's eyes lingered on the maid. She was so beautiful, in a mysteriously bone-chilling sort of way. Her body, the way she walked, how her hair kept perfect shape... She seemed, well, perfect if one could define that word in the state of a human. True her voice was rather dry, but her appearance could balance that out. Not that the young woman was so shallow, she just wasn't expecting a woman of this class in this sort of place. The castle looked nice, but under it, there had been... something. Something like a nightmare. This woman certainly wasn't what had been lurking below. Nervously she considered what else might be roaming about the castle. Just then she realized the purple haired woman was coming directly her way. She automatically moved aside, with no control of her own feet. There was even an unspoken, 'Sorry, excuse me' inside the girl's mind.

A thought occurred to her then. This woman, as uncaring of her situation as she might appear to be, could be the closest thing to 'normal' here. What if she wouldn't come back? She might never see her again. It would be understandable to travel for days in a mansion of this size and never even cross yourself in the mirror. This could be her only chance. She just hoped she wouldn't regret this.

"Wait," She begged. A little surprised by the helplessness in her tone. "Don't go..."

Daniella heard her, she'd asked something of her. Should she answer? It hadn't been a question, but it did sound like one. An unsure plea. What would she say? What COULD she say? She could not comfort her, or make sense of her situation, which was most likely what the girl was going to want. She might not be human or understand all there was about them, but she wasn't blind to the obvious. This girl wasn't the first to come, but it was the first that she'd actually been in contact with. After awhile though, they just disappeared. Long before she'd had a chance to share the atmosphere with them personally. All she knew to do was to face her yet again. As she did, Daniella picked up on a small spark that was eliminating from the blond woman. Daniella couldn't sooth her, and her icy eyes burning into her wasn't helpful either.

The woman had so many things on her mind to ask, but now being under the spotlight, she hesitated. She kept scanning Daniella, trying to read her in some way. To see if she was friend or foe. But it never got past those barren eyes. Finally she found a voice, but it didn't feel like her own.

"Excuse me, but... where are we?" Nothing. "And how did I get here?" Still not a word in response. Now the girl was certain it had been a bad idea to call upon the maid. She should of just let her leave. But then what?

Daniella regarded the girl for a short moment. Watching her thoughts play out on her naive face. It was like viewing a play from a great distance. Even though Daniella was not aware of what a play was. It would probably confuse her, if not arose some form of anger. Not only could humans display emotions, they could fake them as well, and be rewarded greatly for the skill. Something that was also confusing was that she had used the word "We" as in, together. Like they were the same in something. Daniella would have loved to been able to know if she appreciated that or not.

He was watching. Daniella knew this long before the girl even arrived. The picture that cast its gloomy glare over the whole room, enclosed something more than just a feeling of being under surveillance. He couldn't resist the newcomer. He had to see her with his own two barely lifted eyes. For once Daniella had had the honor of being the first to experience something (so she thought in her mind) over at least one or more persons in the manor, that she knew of, but it was bitter sweet. A limited taste tester for her master... or both masters she supposed. But they would not share. It was a matter of who would be prepared for her, in their own way, first. Neither were, she thought, in a zoneless state, before slowly turning her attention to the before mentioned picture with the all too familiar face. If they were ready to receive her, Daniella wouldn't have come into play at all. They'd both pounce on the young blond liked starved hounds. Dividing her up in the end, compromising with disdainfully unwilling mutters. Daniella put a quick thought toward what type of cleaner she'd have to use to get woman blood out of carpeting. Was it just like normal blood, or did it have special properties?

She didn't have to hear the words, or see the mouth of the painted face move to understand its desires. All to well, she heard the words from the shaky voice of the wheelchair. "Keep her comfortable, keep her away from that blasted Ricardo. Keep her in the castle's ground as well," A break in the waves of speech being transferred in the air, before, "And don't get any ideas of your own my pet." And then it was silent again. As silent as a the wheelchair could be.

Comfortable... Daniella didn't quite understand that part of the command. She lacked the ability of comforting anything, other than making a silent room all the more silent with her presence. But, like a wind-up doll she repeated the order nevertheless, "Yes master, we will keep her here awhile. I will make sure that she is...," Oh now what was it? "Comfortable." What a horrible sounding word, Daniella thought. Or at least her term of horrible. She compared horrible with a stubborn spot of grime. A stubborn spot that would not come up meant a good chance of her more malevolent master seeing it, and then leading to a good thrashing if he so felt like it. Not that he needed a reason. Especially not something like a speck of uncleaned dirt. Still it was none of this that was the horrible part. It was how, no matter how hard he appeared to bring down his fist on her, there was nothing. Something else rather strange is that she found herself borrowing the woman's earlier word 'we'. That word did not seem so terrible.

Meanwhile the girl had curiously turned to where Daniella's eyes had drifted. All of a sudden, the girl's head jerked back and her fright filled eyes grew large and stared blankly at the ceiling. Daniella, unsure of what to do, simply watched this all with her body stiff and unaware of the events unfolding before her eyes. She blinked when the blond girl could not, and somehow, this gave her a small twinge of... something. The corners of her lips twitched, and it was over.

The girl stumbled back a little, forgetting her circumstances in an unknown residence for a moment, her only thought was to yank herself out of whatever she was experiencing. Again, Daniella stood like a concrete figure, the only thing that moved were her eyes. Tracking the girl like a hawk on a mouse. She noticed the girl's arms reaching out like tiny pitchers trying to grasp something in the real world to help her out of the one she was in. When one happened to lightly kiss the side of Daniella's upper arm, it was all over to say the very least... Daniella's system of thinking shut down so fast, it made her stumble back. The first time in her life she's tripped without an offending force pushing her. A solitary thought ran over and over and over in her head. Like a flashing neon sign running in front of her eyes. It was going by so fast. Contact, contact, contact, contact, contact, contact, contact. All those rushes from before forced their way into her. Invaded her being and it... and it felt so good. Daniella completely forgot about her duties and the watchful eyes of her master. Outwardly she hadn't changed, so hopefully he wouldn't detect what was really happening to her. He was rather preoccupied with the newcomer anyway. For the whole three to five seconds it lasted, Daniella soaked up the best and worst feelings she'd ever had the pleasure of knowing. She smiled in a seemingly wicked way thought the climax of the experience and then like jumping out of a pleasant dream in the dead of a icy night, her smile fell and the rushes went with it. Just before the girl hit the floor to awaken herself from her horrible vision, Daniella slipped out of the door and into a black out.

The next thing she knew, she was in yet another hallway again. Belli Castle was quite famous for its repetition. But she was not alone as the fashion usually had come to be. He was before her, and He was not happy.

**_So there's another chapter. Hope it goes over well. I tried to make a whole chapter out of just one experience. You'll have to, with what little is seen of our beloved Dani._**


	3. Chapter 3

**Painless is so Very Painful**

_You are alive, but do you live? You have a heart, but is it not black? Yet does not a black heart beat as well? Who wrote the book on what is evil and what is good? Did that person search every shadow, and in every one, found a demon? Demons prefer to hide in the light, the light blinds us for them._

Ricardo, he was one of her two masters. The one with the hatred in his heart. Daniella was aware of this emotion every time he would release it upon her. Whether it was physical with outright meaningless lashings or verbal, degrading what most women would love to hear. "Such beauty, so finely sculpted. A marvel for the eyes, and a toxin to the soul... If only you knew." He was not oblivious, he knew the best way to hurt Daniella. Even if it was in the smallest of ways that she could barely notice herself. This was to compliment her on the things she detested, when she remembered how to detest. He'd seen the way she would gaze at herself longingly in a reflective object. "Sometimes I see it," He muttered to her once, in an oddly calm tone after he'd finished pounding her nose and jaw to a broken mess. "You clean the same spot, over and over. Even while other trappings are buried in dirt and grime." He then had kicked her in the thigh and shoved her over so he could look down at her, and she had to look up at him. "You never clean objects such as glasses, windows, and mirrors like that. Never. I'd think a wrench with your appeal would love to admire themselves. Bask in their artificial glory, so to say." He then leaned down, very close to her face and whispered, "That fool, making such a pile of useless waste, but doing it so finely. You are no use to anything but a distraction of the mind." Then finished his attack on her. No matter, it was nothing her other master could not repair later.

This event as proof, Ricardo didn't need an excuse for beating Daniella's 'skin layer' black and purple. Sometimes even rupturing the frame work that held her up. But it never satisfied him. After all, she felt nothing. What good was hurting someone when you couldn't have the pleasure of the results. Other times, the abuse came in words unlike the events where he'd call her toxic-filled and misleadingly lovely words. These were a different type of verbal torment he had learned. Long conversations where Daniella never spoke, never moved, and most of the time wasn't even aware of the world around her. He'd sometimes cue her to engage in the chatting, and she'd only frustrate him by asking what he wanted her to say. After all this was his rule. Of course that is not what he wanted to hear. However the really tormenting part came as he explained feelings with great enthusiasm, or spoke of great people and places. Places that haunted Daniella. Places she couldn't even have the luck to conjure up in her seemingly bare head.

Although lately, the periods of her forgetting things was becoming worse. Perhaps she was out of date, perhaps she had developed a virus of sorts. Breathed in too many cleaning fumes. Wouldn't be a shocker, since she'd often hide away with a bottle of bleach and try as hard as she could to suck in its aroma. She even downed the whole bottle in an attempt to experience the products she was closest too. This was a bad idea, she lacked a stomach so the liquid substance only fried some of the machine work inside her. But something else told her it was none of these things. It was more as if something had appeared or even developed over time. She would have short or long blackout periods. One minute she was one place, the next she was somewhere completely different with no recollection of how she got there.

This was not something to do in Riccardo's presence, yet there he was standing before her now after she'd exited the room where the girl had collapsed in. She knew very well that he must have been speaking to her, and of course she'd just come out of a black out and had no knowledge of what was amiss.

"Well?" He snapped at her, spitting venom in his accent.

"Forgive me Master," She droned, "Could you plea-" *SLAM* Contact right to the chest. Daniella's body smacked a wall with such force she was sure her other master would have to reconstruct her man-made spine. Something to note about this particular non-human maid. She was not entirely robotic like some would assume. She did actually have a skeletal form that held her upright. To which (and to her pleasure, though unidentified) was about 40% actual human bones, for now. So she did try not to have them damaged. But this was something that was rather unavoidable.

"You worthless thing! You have ears! Answer me now or I'll- I'll-" His rage grew as he was unable to think of any way to threaten the maid. Finally his anger balled up into a fist with its intent to finish the job on Daniella's ribcage. He brought his rage out with a right hook to her flawless face. Not flawless anymore. Her jaw line popped out of place a little, it was now moved slightly to the left. It looked painful, but Daniella could only dream of the intense pain.

He seemed pleased with his handy work. Moving back a few paces to admire her deformed but still lovely face. But he did not smile at this slight twinge of pleasure. Her beauty still mocked him. Her gorgeous face and his cracking appearance, decaying slowly away. He delivered a more satisfying kick to her chest before he spoke to her again in a spiteful tone.

"You leave her alone. Don't go near her! She doesn't belong to you...," He then added a dry statement that wasn't even meant for her. "Or that wretched old man." He paused for a minute to steal a glance in the direction to the left. Daniella now saw it was the door to the kitchen. She hadn't wandered very far it seemed, but there was no way of telling how much time was lost. No two clocks in the mansion were ever the same. She'd witnessed Riccardo messing with the hands to keep them off track. Only he knew the number of lost hours, days, years. They were not important here. Time stood still forever.

Slowly he moved away from her crippled form and advanced toward the window. Looking out a sickly grin stretched out his decaying features. Daniella's sensitive ears picked up on a cracking sound, his face. It had formed a few more lines under the pressure.

"Looks like my precious little princess is trying to flee. How unfortunate my dear Fiona."

Fiona. So that was her name. Something started to stir up again inside the broken maid. Perhaps it was a type of pain. After all being beaten to the point of excruciating physical pain, it most certainly could be, but that wasn't it.

Precious Little Princess...

"Fiona..." Muttered Daniella in a blank verse. She only wanted to taste the name of imperfection on her tongue. See what might happen. A soft rumble flowed through her. She thought, in a momentary instant, that she had enjoyed it. But was it worth it? Riccardo looked at her with disinterest and spat, "She's not like you. You stick her with a needle and she'll squirm. Break her legs and she'll scream," He looked out the window, fantasying the ideas, "Cut her open... and she'll bleed..." He tossed a hateful look Daniella's way, "She bleeds. But her blood tastes so sweet. Yours isn't worth the animals that are killed to make it." He continued to ignore her as she stared intently at the wall. When he'd looked away again, she began to move her lips to form the outline of the word Fiona over and over. He was right, she did taste sweet.

Several empty moments passed that filled the entire dining room with an eerie silence. Twice Daniella tried to pick her damaged frame up off the ground. Her pre-programmed mind told her it was cleaning time again. But this proved futile, as she was only able to push herself half way up, before she'd fall back down into a heap. Ricardo paid absolutely no attention. He was still staring out of the window long after Fiona had left. Finally he moved away from it and headed in a partially hurried pace toward the door opposite the kitchen. He called back to her in an even tone, "On second thought, you should cook for her later on this evening. Don't mess it up." No argument there. Then he was gone. She was alone and disabled. How did he expect her to get up?

Time passed on. Seemingly hours. During that time she felt absolutely nothing. Saying the girl's name did nothing now. One would think boredom would drive her mad, but there was nothing, not even daydreaming about what it would be like to daydream. She simply laid there, staring off into the distance without a thought in her mind. Not one. She was listening in patience for that sound to come. The one that always came after she would receive such a beating to where she was incapacitated.

After a long while, the creeping and cracking of old rusty wheels turning against the cold floor, came to her ears. Her mind seemed to wake up then and the first thought in her mind was of what she should prepare for the Fiona. What does one feed to Precious Little Princesses?... what do they like? As the belly turning noise neared her from behind, she closed her eyes with the last thought being, Her blood tastes so sweet.

**And there we have a long over-do update. Thanks to reviewers and readers, and those who sent me private messages. You know who you are, don't be shy. :P Hope you enjoy it still. This chapter was a little slow, but it heats up next time. ;D Might stray from the original storyline at some point soon. Still debating.  
**

**Auf Wiedersehen!  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**Forgive me for taking so very long to update. I know it can be very frustrating for those who've read my work. And I very much appreicate all those who've commented and wrote your kind words to me. To make it up, I sat myself down to revise this next chapter and hopefully we can get into some action soon. And I shall not let the story slip so far again... I hope.**

**Hope you enjoy... Much love!**

**Sentient In The Still **

_If you are very loud, the screams are silent. If you are very still, you can hear them in their mute pleas to be heard _

She was conscious through the entire repair of her body, but couldn't recall a bit of it. Partly because it happened so many times in her life it just wasn't all that interesting. But the thought of the woman, Miss Fiona... Oh, it gave her such a sensation. The repetition of the flashing and twisting mental pictures of her seemed consequential in a way nothing else had ever been. Yes, that sparking feeling had returned once more. It was not even required to utter her name anymore. She simply focused on the photo-copy print in her mind and it made her head spin with unknown influences and aroused her mentally. She thought about how they touched, and how something strange had happened. She wanted to do it again. She wanted something else even more, but what? I want... I want...

But alas the prize was so far obscured. In the vision, the Princess was seated above her on a throne of mirrors at the end of a growing tunnel. All the mirrors reflected every perfection in Daniella that Fiona lacked and how the difference put her in a bind. A strange urge to flee. To get out of the range of the mirror eyes that Fiona cast down from her pedestal. A haunting shadow engulfing everything, yet the reflections could still be seen. But outside of this dreamscape, everything was unchanged, despite the new mangled limbs. This was the cost of such unnecessary fantasies. They were but mere pesky distractions, these twisted thoughts. The dust that infected her mind, and needed to be cleaned out with the installment of her new cheekbone. While some might find this all symbolic, it would not matter. Who was going to analyze them? They'd probably mean less if they were studied.

Her wheelchair bound master had been talking to her the whole prolonged process of fixing her damaged body. She didn't have to pay attention to know the usual lines. Curses toward Ricardo, sickly sweet words praising her beauty, and naturally congratulations to himself for being responsible for such loveliness. There was only one part she tuned in for, being what parts were going into her this time. She imagined that if she could desire something, she'd desire to feel human. Despite the horrible creatures they are. So she always liked the thought of having human bones making up her being. She conjured up the idea that when she was made up of more human bones, she could feel more and understand more. This could have been true, but most likely not. But it did make her happy, the placebo effect perhaps, a shame she didn't realize she was happy. To her, feelings were categorized to the spot of her doll like figure that would tingle or twitch. Happiness would seem to vibrate all over, so it confused her to no end. Once reported it to her master as a malfunction. With a furrowed brow he assured her he'd fix it, permanently, and it would never bother her again. Fortunately, her master was not as perfect in his work as she was at being perfect. She was perhaps his only 'mistake' in making her so perfect.

Once the procedure was finished, she was sent out on her way to do... well, what she always does. Clean something that was most likely not all that dirty in the first place. Although she did find it more satisfying to keep busy, rather then stand in the corner being obvious about her daydreaming. Daydreaming, a curious thing. If Daniella would have been aware she was doing just that, her whole body could break itself from the trembling that would ensue. But the sparks she was picking up from the thoughts of the Miss Fiona where not all over. They were centered mainly in the chest and stomach. Somewhat wasn't all that pleasant. But she wouldn't 'fix it' for the world. After all it had more meaning than the world over. Not that she was aware there was a world beyond the castle at all. She'd only once put thought to it. When she came across an old map under many layers of dust. It was entitled "The New World" and dated in the late 17th century. Some landmasses were highlight, almost at random to Daniella's uneducated eyes. She ran her fingers over the context until she noticed something written on a chunk of subcategorized land. Europe; Italy. Italy, that was where Belli Castle was, that much she knew. Looking at the outline of this 'Italy' she wondered if her master owned it all. It didn't look like the shape of the castle. Unfortunately she never did return to study the map, it had vanished from the spot soon after.

The map wasn't the only thing that would vanish over time. It seemed that anything she designated a form of attraction to, would disappear. She was not sure if it was her, or one of her masters' doings. Either way, it was as though the castle itself detested her and vowed to punish any disobedience.

As she was headed down a long corridor toward the last room she remembered cleaning in she heard a loud scream bounce back and forward from towering wall to towering wall. The shriek ran all the way down the hall and back to her ears. It was a woman's. It was high in pitch and full of fear. However, just shortly afterward, another scream came. This one was deep and bone-chilling. All too familiar as well. She had immediately froze in the middle of the hall and listened intently. Moments passed before the second of the screams came again. It was closer now, and it now sounded more like a confused growl.

Heavy footsteps, heavy breathing, the door burst open to reveal a large monstrosity. Upon spotting the maid, the beast flailed its arms in desperation, trying hard to communicate. "DOLLY! MY DOLLY!" It started to run toward Daniella with obvious pain and misunderstanding in its beady eyes. Daniella didn't break stance at all when it came within inches of her face and continued to ramble on about a doll that stole his doll, or something of the sorts. He was on his knees now, begging something of Daniella. When he shot up and ran out the way he came, Daniella almost uncontrollably took pursuit. She was walking briskly but still could not keep up with the flexibility of the beast. Soon he was far ahead, and then his hollers and grunts became mumbles in the distance. At last, there was silence again. Daniella wandered lost down a few more endless halls, before she gave up, halting in a clone of the shadowed corridor she'd been in earlier. Everything looks the same in Belli castle to her.

Debilitas. Created from less than she had been. Made for no purpose, he was a mistake. He was imperfect. He was hideous and worthless and an all around disgrace to humanity, this is how Master Ricardo had worded it. He did not deserve to live and yet he did. He did more so than she did. He was free to express, enjoy, and hurt. It simply was not fair. Daniella did her very best to avoid and ignore him most of the time. She would envy him if she could, but instead she settled for pretending he didn't exist. He'd often approach her making happy bubbly noises and usually would have some kind of toy in hand, wanting someone to play with. Daniella would continue to do her work as though he were one of the many ghosts that haunted the castle. Only he was less important to her. She did not appreciate him mocking her with his ability to be happy about the simplest of nothings. But this time she had followed him, but why? What was so significant this time that she followed him, and was now completely off track of her original destination.

The first scream. It had been her. Miss Fiona. The Princess. Perhaps she had believed the deformed creature known as Debilitas would lead her to the girl. She could, needless to say, track her on her own. The castle was no doubt large, but her ears could pick up the littlest of echoes. From ear-shattering shrieks to a hushed moan. The rooms carried voices from one side of the castle to the other.

She wondered if Debilitas might have done something to the girl. He'd certainly be in trouble if he did. Of course, he would not hurt the girl, not on purpose anyway. Daniella doubted Miss Fiona would find it enjoyable to play with the likes of such a creature. Something so imperfect. Depends are her definition of perfect. Daniella's only definition was, 'herself'. She was suppose to be the beacon of beautiful and flawless in her ways. Was that perfection? She was told so. Yet there was something she must be missing. Not only did she feel the incompleteness herself, but her Masters also seemed to confirm it by bring this Miss Fiona to the castle. There was something she had, that Daniella did not. Something that made her a real woman. Despite her flaws and defects, she truly was something to behold, Daniella would admit that. She was also intrigued no less.

In a rather open and disturbing way of putting it all, Daniella desired to 'experiment' with the new found energy she appeared to receive from the girl. But she was not sure the proper way to go about doing so. Wasn't sure if her life was important to preserve. Her Masters would not be very happy if she disturbed her in such a way as death. To Daniella, death was such a minor inconvenience. A shut down of a system that was rebooted later on. This was nothing to the likes of her, but to humans it was a great deal of trouble. So it seemed. An end, so to speak. Though in some cultures they considered it a beginning to another life. How unfair. Some humans get two lives, even after one is snuffed out. She didn't even have one. Either way, killing the Miss was probably NOT the best course of action. Perhaps there was another way. Something less... violent. But how could anyone expect a woman who was beat senselessly constantly, to dream up her own tactics. Especially when the woman didn't have the ability to dream.

As she ran through different plans in her mind, she could conjure up ideas that might not end so well for the Miss, or at the very least, leave a rather dastardly mark. None of her ideas amounted to anything anyway. Her Masters were always somewhere near. Close enough to detect any wrong doing on her part. If she slipped up on her duties, they'd know. If she pursued the girl in any way, shape, or form, they'd know. They'd stop her right off. If she disobeyed... well, she didn't know. She never disobeyed before. For the first time in her existence, Daniella questioned their authority over her. After all, what could the really do to her. Hit her? Already done when she wasn't even doing anything out of order. Disable her? Well that would just save her the trouble of being a woman at all. Deprive her? Of what? What did they ever really GIVE her? There was nothing that was truly her's alone. As stated before, even her name was nothing more than a scribble on a sheet of paper, following behind the file that contained records on Debilitas of all things. Unbeknownst to her, it wasn't even in ink. A few strikes of the eraser, and she seized to exist yet again. A shadow of the shadows, a nothing made of nothing.

Yet as the stonefaced Daniella thinned her lips, something was turning inside her. She felt her face trying to tighten up. Like her features were getting sucked to the center of her face. Her eyebrows twitched and her nose wrinkled. Hatred is such a curious emotion. It only can bring out the ugly in the most perfectly beautiful of... humans.


	5. Chapter 5

**The Flavor of Woman and Lust**

_Perfection can only be reached when you stop trying to obtain it. Despite this fact, you shall parish in the attempt._

_What is this room?... I don't remember it... It's filthy. _Indeed she'd never been in this room. That was obvious. Any room that Daniella was in was usually pretty tidy. This one... Well, cobwebs clang to every object in sight, some hang like fragile torn threads from the ceiling. Even in places it would seem cobwebs would not be, they had taken over; freely scattered about the floor, serving no purpose. They looked like miniature ragged tablecloths. Buried under the depths of the webs were scattered bits of this and that, a massive chandelier. All this was accompanied by curious cockroaches, munching desperately on dust cakes.

To the unknowing eye, the room would seem abandoned. But to Daniella, it said something else. To her, the room seemed to be a purposely made disaster. The way the chair she was in was coated in about three layers of... who knows what. But it was fresh grime somehow. Even if the room itself and the accumulate mess was years in the making, his place was in a different dimension. It was aging faster than the rest of the world. It was set aside, for her. In her mind, it all seemed planned out, as though someone was trying to torture her. They knew her programming would be flared up by this catastrophe. Every bit of her insides began turning. Her mind was screaming, "_Filthy, filthy, filthy. Disgrace and filth. Must destroy, must clean." _Yet she didn't move an inch. She'd not dare.

The black out, this time, had lasted for a quite a bit. It was now getting rather dark outside. Hopefully she'd not missed any more than a few hours, or else she'd have failed to prepare a meal for the girl. Or perhaps she already finished that task. She wondered what she might have fed the girl. _Filth... _

The only thing stiller in the room than Daniella herself, was Riccardo. He was quite the role model. She admired the way he blended in with the soot around him. He had forgotten himself, shaded from the world. Unlike her though, he had to try to be nonexistent. The way he was facing the far wall directly, and away from her, he seemed totally disconnected from the universe. For the first time, Daniella didn't feel so alone in her world.

Sometimes she had to remind herself to forget what had happened at defined points in her 'life'. This was certainly one of them. Something important was coming, she could feel it somewhere about her; mainly in her legs. They wanted so badly to move, but then she'd lose the game. If she moved first it was over. Didn't matter anyway, she already lost before the gun was even loaded.

After what seemed like a few precious moments of time to recollect herself, the game was on.

"You know," He muttered. The disgust in his voice had not deterred at all, "I once visited this tiny town in the middle of a god-forsaken desert." He paused to turn around. Now he was facing the opposite wall, looking perpendicular with Daniella, who kept her eyes on him. "I don't remember the name of it, nor does it matter. It's probably gone now, blown away in a storm. Or perhaps their gods became so disgraced by it they wiped it off the face of the earth." He then threw a particular look Daniella's way before continuing, "They were such empty people; hollowed out stones more than bodies." She knew he was comparing them with her.

She looked away then to focus on attempting to make a mental picture of this place he spoke of. Nothing came. Perhaps it was the purpose of this room, it made one for her. She watched two cockroaches that were dying from starvation, and imagined her face was plastered on them.

"This place was so uneducated, so vile, so... evil. The people there, shamed us alchemist by saying they knew the secrets to life. The only thing they knew was ignorance." One of the cockroaches twitched uncontrollably, trying to escape death one last time. Just so it could starve tomorrow.

"Everyone there was so sickly. I don't see why they even bothered to breathe air. Every time they did they choked on the decay and awful stench around them." The cockroach gave up. "Why would anyone fight to live in such conditions?" Daniella was eloped in the final moments of the other roach now. Barely hearing him until he shouted, "I asked you why do you exist you lowly swine!"

Slowly she raised her attention to him and stared emptily just below his flaming eyes, not looking at him directly. His outburst faded and he moved toward her in a calm pace, speaking up again in a softer tone. However it was still underlined with threat. "Humans are a curious species. No matter how many books they write about themselves, no matter their opinions on the meaning of life... They only waste it away trying to find it; trying to obtain it. They are fools! I know how to capture it, and I know how to maintain it." Daniella couldn't find the point of this conversation. He'd often be off in random rants and she was just a dummy to receive his words of fury and passion, but that was not this. She wondered if she'd missed something important.

Suddenly his tone changed dramatically, into something nasty, sadistic, and a hint of mockery. "You want her, don't you?" Daniella suppressed the urge to twitch. It was a rhetorical question of course, but still, she considered it, or tried to consider it at least. Did she want her? Why would she? She is imperfect, and she is filthy, and she is beautiful in an unobtainable way.

When Ricardo observed no movement from Daniella, he was not convinced that his question had not had a profound impact on her. He pushed further, trying to hit a nerve.

"You know, even if you could have her, the way you wanted, you'd be too uneducated to maintain it." He wrinkled his nose as if he'd caught the scent of something vile and then on cue, spat in her face. The slime slithered down her cheek like an artificial tear.

It was evitable at this point. She knew a physical beating of some degree would be unleashed shortly. This woman was so frustrating to everyone, why was she worth it? She answered her own question mentally, and then straightened her already straight form.

By now Ricardo had regressed back to talking about politics and punishment in foreign countries that could have been on another planet for all Daniella would know. To her she imagined identical castles to the Belli's, and identical people. There were carbon copies of Fiona being worshiped by faceless men. She blocked out the imagines of Ricardo and Lorenzo. She did not want them there. There would always only be just one of her placed in every country Ricardo would rant about. Walking behind the Fionas, scrubbing their feet stains away. Only one maid for thousands of imperfect robots, who never paid mind to her. She was so distracted by this imagine she had missed a good portion of Ricardo's speech and now he was onto something else; Lorenzo.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say he's got holes I don't even know about… Pervert."

Ironic, it was a word Daniella had learned and enjoyed the definition. She had forgotten how she learned it. "Conveying something to mean the opposite of what is expected, the contrary of what was said." Or in shorthanded Daniella terms, "Lies". She was ironic no doubt. A cruel little joke of a woman. But she did like the word, she liked when she was able to relate a word she had secretly discovered to a situation without her master's knowledge. It was like a tiny victory. Ironic that Ricardo would call anyone a pervert. She knew what he was capable of. She knew little about love and passion. But she knew anatomy, and she was familiar with Riccardo's. When she first came to be, he'd hated her just as much, but that never stopped him from seeing just how lifelike she was. She had disappointed him then too.

He was still rambling over how he detests Lorenzo when he paused and cast a distant look at Daniella, as though he was trying to see any hint of a soul she might have.

"Perhaps," He mumbled in a lost tone that she'd never heard, "Perhaps… you aren't as clueless as you seem." This strange voice pulled her from her mental escapes and she actually began to listen intently. "You're like a spy. You know this place better than the roaches do. You crawl all over… You know where they are right now don't you? Lorenzo?" He was standing right of the door now, his back plastered against the wall. She didn't know where Lorenzo was at all, but she knew where someone else was. She didn't dare steal a glance at the keyhole.

"Where is he?" He was moving toward her with threat in every step. Her mind was solely on the opposite side of the door. She could feel the eyes, but not the confusion and fear radiating from them. Not yet. "Where's the old man?"

_Filth Spy… is this what you wanted to see?_

She wasn't centered at all. Her form felt like a foggy outline lost in a space with no gravity. A figure trapped staring into an abyss. As Riccardo unleashed his frustration like any other day, she allowed herself to transfer through the heavy wooden door like an apparition, completely obvious to the abuse. She allowed her eerie presence to disturb the woman she knew was on the other side.

_Don't pity me Princess. Because you can't pity someone… something… that cannot feel the destruction. It hurts you more than it could ever hurt me… How dare you. You wouldn't even leave me to the pain you cause. You've stolen that too._

The blows echoed throughout the halls, bouncing around aimlessly. This echo was completely nonexistent before. There had never been anyone to hear them. But now they clang to the ears of Miss Fiona. They made a nest in her brain. They scarred her memory with the sounds and the image of a woman being beat black and blue. Part of her knew that she should run, but it is human to watch. This was wrong, she would plead for help herself but would not answer the call of another in distress. Even if the maid seemed unaware of her situation, was that not truly the most tragic part? Was this woman so abused she had become a droid?

Fiona was still debating the sheer horror and confusion when the beating stopped. The hooded man who'd been delivering the punishment turned toward her and her heart stopped. "I won't let him touch her! Do you hear me old man! The Azoth is mine." There was no relief in that statement. True he wasn't talking to her, but she knew he was talking about her. As far as she knew, the maid and herself were the only women around. If he was talking about the maid, it was apparent that his idea of protection was distorted.

What Fiona did not hear before Riccardo retreated to the corner of the room was what he muttered under his breath to no one in particular, "I will be reborn. Azoth is the key to humanity." Daniella logged that away inside and like a xerox machine, a copy of the information sent itself out all over her mechanical brain.

_Princess…_

She slowly twisted her neck toward the door and burned it down with her tormenting stare.

_… You think you can escape?_

She felt a sharp shockwave through her face, felt her lips stretch without control it. More waves. She wanted to grab ahold of the girl just to generate more of this power.

_Princess… It's cleaning time._

Not a moment later Daniella sprung up from the chair, it tipped over backwards from the sudden force and shattered into pieces when it impacted the floor. The sickening crack started Riccardo out of his mediation. He spun around to find Daniella standing completely erect, an accusing finger pointed toward the door, a truly menacing grin craved out of the swollen face.

Then the laughter began.

A haunting screech echoed, just as the slapping had, but no ears would appreciate its memory. The event itself was where the intensity lay. No repeat could capture this moment. It was mind-numbing for the two viewing it, but it was a triumph for the numb-minded. It was awakening.

She screamed like a scorned banish and seemed to be attempting to command the door to disintegrate just by pointing at it. The door could not run, and neither could Fiona. She was so petrified she'd forgotten how to function. Her eyes were open with the lids pulled to the limit. Having both eyes stretched so far made it harder to focus through the tiny keyhole, but she'd already seen all it took to convert her skin to a flour-white tint. Her whole body was on fire, but goosebumps were raised. The feeling of falling turned out to be reality as she landed flat on her butt and it sent her back to consciousness at jet speed. She stumbled to her feet as she was trying to run. The menacing shrieks would cover her distressful cries. In fact they would swallow her completely. There was no escape from it.

Back in the room, Riccardo could only observe dumbfounded. Daniella had had strange fits before. Convolutions and malfunctions that could easily be blamed on machinery errors, but this… He'd never seen this before. He could only watch apprehensively. Daniella continued this lively display for over a minute until the last wave died. After the last jolt shot through her system and escaped out of her snarling grin, it was as if nothing had happened. She could remember what she had done, but couldn't remember how it had felt. But all was not lost, she knew the answer now, or she thought so at least. "Azoth is the key to humanity". How ironic for the key to come snooping through a keyhole just to watch her be 'dehumanized'.

_I wonder what you taste like princess…_

**_Well hopefully this isn't too rough, but wanted to get something into this story before I lost my little free time. College, work, boyfriend... dance dance revolution. Life gets busy. Hope you enjoyed it, and I mixed it up a little as you can see. I have an idea where I'm going... just gotta get there._**


	6. Chapter 6

_**Author's Note: So with College, work, pets, house payments, and such, these things get away from you. Partly I didn't want to continue to some extent because I looked back and said, OH MY GOODNESS! LOOK AT THAT HORRID GRAMMAR AND SPELLING! Yes well, I always published in a hurry, and that's kinda what I'm doing now so forgive me please. It's short, but I had an urge to try to continue this lost achieve in my flash drive. It was so wonderful to see that people actually care about my ramblings. **__** You all are fabulous and I'm sorry if I left you astray for so long. And now I'm off to procrastinate my English paper further with some "Dark Souls"! **_

**I See You As You Truly Are**

_Oh mirror me that I see, how I hate to I love you. Oh mirror me that sees me, how you love to hate me._

...Twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fif... sixteen? Daniella had been counting bottles of various potions in one of the cabinets. Often her masters would stock them up just for the sake of boredom. The multi-colored bottles would do nothing more than gather dust that she was assigned to clean. She had been doing so as usual (she done it so often she remembered the color coordination), but noticed something was off. There were twenty-two bottles that would line each shelf, six shelves, and only one bottle in each slot or that's how it had been. _Now_ a few of the slots were empty. The cobwebs had been disturbed. The clean circles in the dust were evidence that there had indeed been a round container there. In the first row, bottle number fifteen was absent. A blue tinted liquid if she recalled correctly, which of course she did. On the second two more had vanished, an orangeish red and a light green. Soon Daniella caught on to the pattern. One of every color was missing, stolen away. Even if one or both of her masters had removed them themselves, it still felt like thievery to her. In a small way, these potions had been there for so long, motionless and completely dependent on those around them. One might say she sympathized with them. She too was controlled over. But now they were mobile, they were going somewhere. She was still there, staring at the blank holes.

_Miss..._

Somehow she just knew it was her. She was guilty. All her fault. She was a selfish thief. But what humans aren't? Her masters were both thieves. How human were they though? This raised the question of how human she was, apparently not very much.

Since her last beating, she'd noticed her bruised face staring back at her through the reflective surfaces around the castle. This castle always had too many of those for her liking. As she was exiting the room with the potions she turned to see a small vanity mirror sitting on a table by the door. It had always been there, as long as she remembered. She had sometimes cleaned away the dust to reveal a quick glance at herself. Today it didn't need a cleaning though; she could see herself just fine. Suddenly she smashed the glass with a closed fist and then flipped off the light and moved on without a single look back.

_Now where is the Princess anyway?_ _Where did she run off to? _As if on cue she heard a dog's bark alerting from merely a few hallways away. Daniella turned slowly in that direction and stared into the darkness of the hall. No, she stared passed the darkness, through the walls that separated her from her prey, and zeroed in with such skill she could have shot an arrow right to the spot where Fiona was standing. Her feet had started the chase without her. The barking was closer and closer until it morphed into growling. She looked down and there it was, that dirty beast. Fiona was hiding behind the door, but it was a poor effort. A twitch came into her leg making the knee bend only slightly, the dog recoiled but didn't take its eyes off her and neither did she.

_You know don't you… You know what I am… what I am… what I am… I am._

Like the beast had read her mind he threatened her with a sharp, short bark than quickly retreated from the room, leaving her to herself again. Time slowed to a trickle as she continued to stare at the spot where the dog had been. The sun sank unnoticed and chores went unfinished. Not a noise came from her cold lips and not one blink of her eyes for hours. Finally her chin raised but her eyelids still did not flicker. The dim light of the room simmered in her violet iris creating fire out of cold ashes. Something was coming up inside, she could feel it just under the surface. Like a corpse in a coffin, digging its way out.

And y_ou know what I am not._

Dinnertime was a lot like cleaning time for Daniella; it was something that required little to no concentration, so it allowed her mind to wonder, something very dangerous indeed. She had no idea that she was in the kitchen because her mind was miles away. At one point she felt Riccardo's presence nearby, but only for a brief moment. Since her little episode he had noticeably been avoiding her. Besides that there were no sounds except the stove's sizzle and the occasional ghost of a whisper from some notion or soul long lost.

Something was different in her, it had begun ever since that moment she sprung up from the chair. The element that made her aware of how she should present herself was missing. The drive to be a certain way to fit her two makers' liking was gone. It wasn't a lack of fear, for she never feared Riccardo's punishments, that she knew for sure. Even if she could be afraid, Riccardo would not intimidate her in the slightest.

There was simply just emptiness now where her dutifulness had always resided. So then why was she still bothering with the cooking? Daniella felt her left cheek contract into a sideways grin. Something was lacking where 'something' had never been before. But now it was demanding to be satisfied. It was time to fill up that hole. She didn't know for sure with what, but she knew who had it. Then suddenly, there was a distant scream, and this time it was no ghost.

Daniella found him just as he was at his creation, sprawled out in his ugliness, eyes staring into the void, no staggering breath or snorts. With a hint of electricity and something unknown to her, he came to life before her eyes. He could then see more than she had ever seen throughout her entire existence, she was still left behind in the darkness.

He was always free in this way, from the moment master Riccardo gave him life. It was Riccardo's attempt to rival Lorenzo's success with Daniella. Lorenzo immediately laughed and scorned the rancid beast from the moment it blinked. There was no need to know Debilitas' demeanor, it was clear just by looking at his loathsome form. Lorenzo cursed at Riccardo and said his creation was nothing but a horrid mistake and could never compare to his beautiful and perfect Daniella.

Daniella had had the honor of being the first one approached by Debilitas, he looked her over and smiled awkwardly. He brushed her hair gently and giggled to himself, she only stood there without aversion. Furious at that point with Lorenzo and his obvious failure, Riccardo cracked a cattle rod against the poor things back, he shrieked in pain and Daniella's eyes widen for a moment in realization. Lorenzo was wrong about him. Through his lack of vanity and grotesque manner, shone a light in his eyes that she couldn't even touch.

He was better than her.

A long red welt on his back radiated his agony. As if to further insult her he started to cry, producing real watery tears that followed down his misshapen face. Lorenzo sneered again, "What uselessness these tears are. It'll serve you well Riccardo, it is just as useless as you!" With that her master (not yet wheelchair bound) strolled off, calling back to her to follow. Before she left though she looked down one more time at the forever pitiful Debilitas and felt a tingling in her chest and fingers. It was not sorrow she felt, but hatred and jealously, the very same thing she felt at times when she sensed Fiona nearby. It was a conflicting feeling for Daniella; she didn't like the feel of this particular spark but yet longed to feel anything at all. Every time Debilitas had tried to be close to her, she would sometimes mimic Riccardo's actions and swat at him, but mostly she'd ignore him until he would sulk away to weep in his loneliness.

Stooping down now, she pressed her fingers against Debilitas' fatty flesh; he was still warm with life. _He was just like you, Princess. But you are too blinded by his appearance and your flaws._ She stroked Debilitas' cheek for a moment not really understanding her own movements, was this pity?

A sound came from the distance and drew her eyes away from the corpse. It sounded like moving mechanisms. Slowly she regained her footing and looked down at Debilitas just as she had the first day of his life. Without a thought her lips parted and words slipped out into the silence, "You were complete, and now you are free." Her head cranked towards the sounds where she knew Fiona was not far from and stayed like that for a good while until a black out took over. Next thing she knew, she was ten paces behind her mark. Fiona certainly looked the part of innocent and helpless, but everyone must have underestimated her if she was able to kill Debilitas. _You're not so precious after all are you?_ Thought Daniella. She quietly approached from behind as Fiona fiddled with a locked door. She reached out and her fingers tingled for a mere second before her hand wrapped around Fiona's causing the key to fall. Daniella had been expecting the vibrations to return, the ones she experienced the first time Fiona touched her, but nothing came.

Their eyes met, and she recognized the look in her eyes. They were Debilitas' eyes every time Riccardo had come near him and to her pleasant surprise they were Riccardo's eyes when she had jumped from the chair.

"Dinner is served, Miss." It was time to fill that void, and Fiona was going to help her just as she had helped Debilitas become free.

"Dinner is served, _Miss_…"


	7. Author's Note

For anyone who still haunts the walls around here and happened to catch an echo from this tale, I'm very sorry I never finished what I started. I tend to do that, unfortunately. Recently though I've retaken an interest in my story... but re-reading it I've spotted too many flaws to move forward with it happily. So I've been doing some editing on past chapters and rerouting what I wanted to do with it. I'm hoping to still have the motivation to repost this story and (hopefully) finish it out to some degree.

Although a lot of nifty games are to be coming out soon and hey... you never know. If I don't get it all out before Dark Souls II, it's doomed.

In short, I'm trying again and if anyone is left to read this, I hope at least it will motivate fellow Haunting Ground writers to do the same. This game is still amazing and Daniella is still my all-time favorite character.

Bis Dann,

VE


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